Pakistan releases Indian prisoner after 23 years
Friday, 8 April 2011
Courtesy: Strait Times
LAHORE - PAKISTAN released one of its longest-serving Indian prisoners on Thursday after more than 23 years behind bars, accepting a call for his freedom on humanitarian grounds, officials saidPresident Asif Ali Zardari ordered the release of Gopal Das late last month after an appeal from India's Supreme Court.
Das was handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border crossing, confirmed Mehboob Hussain, spokesman for the paramilitary rangers at Wagah.
'Das was more than happy. His family members also came to receive him,' Mohammad Sajid, a paramilitary official, told AFP.
Das - who told reporters he was 26 when he was arrested - was sentenced to life in prison in June 1987 and had been due for release by the end of this year.
Pakistan's presidency did not say why he was convicted, but a senior official in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison, where he was held, told AFP last month that Das had been jailed on spying charges
LAHORE - PAKISTAN released one of its longest-serving Indian prisoners on Thursday after more than 23 years behind bars, accepting a call for his freedom on humanitarian grounds, officials saidPresident Asif Ali Zardari ordered the release of Gopal Das late last month after an appeal from India's Supreme Court.
Das was handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border crossing, confirmed Mehboob Hussain, spokesman for the paramilitary rangers at Wagah.
'Das was more than happy. His family members also came to receive him,' Mohammad Sajid, a paramilitary official, told AFP.
Das - who told reporters he was 26 when he was arrested - was sentenced to life in prison in June 1987 and had been due for release by the end of this year.
Pakistan's presidency did not say why he was convicted, but a senior official in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison, where he was held, told AFP last month that Das had been jailed on spying charges
Bandar Seri Begawan Time
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